Love Apart
by Sunlight through Leaves
Summary: Celebrating Valentine's Day is a lot harder when you're not in the same location.


The full moon had reached the top of its arc when he awoke, rose to his feet and sent his student off for some much needed rest. He settled on a rock a short distance from the camp and took a deep breath of late night air. Third shift. The hours between midnight and dawn were some of his favorite.

Kakashi checked his watch – it was just after midnight. If he'd been home, he probably would have been awake and planning some extravagant ridiculousness in celebration. His romantic soul had surprised even him when it first reared its head. This was, after all, the first serious relationship he'd been a part of in, well, forever.

The morning after their first night together, he'd woken early with the inexplicable desire to make breakfast. He rarely cooked, and with good reason as it turned out. Though the food had been almost inedible, the gesture still made Iruka smile.

So perhaps he wouldn't have made breakfast, but there definitely would have been flowers and candles and maybe even some chocolate.

He looked skyward as he ruminated on it. The moon was bright enough to cast shadows, and the black space surrounding it was pierces by tiny pinpricks of light. Out here in the deep desert with the rolling dunes of pale sand, the chill night air and never-ending sky, a new thought slid into his mind.

It really was quite beautiful.

OOOOOOOO

His fingers sinking into cool sand instead of his sheets woke him. Iruka bolted upright, scrubbing sleep from his eyes to try to clear the image of a pre-dawn desert. The sight refused to go away. Bizarre. He'd gone to sleep in his own bed, and he was fairly certain he wasn't dreaming. A mar in the sand next to him drew his attention down.

Someone had drawn an endearingly lopsided heart in the sand and sketched out the words 'wish you were here, happy valentine's day' beside it.

Iruka chuckled, glad that no one was around to see the goofy smile plastered on his face. Though he did wonder how on earth Kakashi'd managed this while he was out on a mission.

"Genjutsu." A voice filled him in.

He yelped and scrambled backwards only to tumble off the bed when the genjutsu was suddenly released. So much for believing no one saw him. "Uhei?" He ventured. He was slowly learning the names of Kakashi's dogs, but Pakkun was the only one who was around on a regular basis. For the others, he always wound up taking a shot in the dark.

The bandaged dog nodded his head. "Yeah. Sorry to surprise you. The boss asked me to do this." A foot was raised to scratch an ear. "I don't really get it. You humans are so bizarre."

Iruka hauled himself back to his feet. "I didn't realize you could do genjutsu." He called over his shoulder as he walked towards the main room.

A soft thump echoed through the small apartment when Uhei jumped off the bed and padded after him. "I can, but I can't come up with the image. That place is where Kakashi is right now. He kept blabbing on and on about how much he wished you could be with him because this is a special day, or something like that."

"Yeah, me too." Iruka murmured and ignored the sudden stab of loneliness while digging through the bags on his counter.

Uhei paused from chewing on his leg and snorted. "Humans."

"Uhei, um…." His fingers closed around an oblong package. The box of chocolate was bought on an extreme whim and a very faint hope that maybe, just maybe, Kakashi would return from the mission two full weeks early. "Would you mind going back to Kakashi? And…and bring this?"

Uhei eyed the box skeptically. After another befuddled exclamation of 'humans," he took the box gently between his teeth.

OOOOOOO

The blank desert in from of him suddenly filled with a cloud of smoke that cleared to reveal Uhei. He held out his hand to take the object from Uhei's mouth. "What happened?"

"He says to stop doing these weird sentimental things; you're destroying your reputation."

Kakashi turned the box over, recognizing the logo.

"He also says," Uhei shifted uncomfortably. "Happy Valentine's day, and…that he loves you."

Before opening it, Kakashi swiped a viscous fluid from the top of the box, not wanting it to get on the chocolate.

"Yeah, sorry. I kinda drooled on it."

OOOOOOOO

"He drooled on it?"

Kakashi pulled his head out of fridge, having retrieved the milk. "Only a little bit."

"You've got to be kidding me." Iruka took the carton from him and poured some into the pan. Post-mission dinners had already become a bit of a ritual. "On our first Valentine's Day, you send me this romantic genjutsu that is quite possibly the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me, and I send you chocolates covered in dog slobber?"

"It was only on the box." Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka's waist. "But I do believe it means that, in terms of romantic gestures, I'm winning."

Iruka's dark eyes flashed. He loved a challenge.

OOOOOOO

This was like _pulling teeth_ - started as a vague idea since it's awfully hard to celebrate when you're not in the same place, and it seems to me that this would be a typical problem for shinobi, and it went downhill from there. Ah, well. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!


End file.
